Summary
The Rio Conventions Pavilion (RCP) opened on Monday, 5 December 2016, at the UN Biodiversity Conference, in Cancún, Mexico. It convened under the theme “Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Sectors,” and was hosted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat.
The first RCP thematic day, Landscape Day, was chosen as part of the celebration of the World Soil Day 2016 and focused on linkages between soils, biodiversity, land degradation and climate change. Landscape Day was co-organized by FAO and Germany’s Institute for Biodiversity and Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. The governments of Mexico and Germany were contributing organizers.
After opening remarks from the CBD Secretariat, FAO and Global Environment Facility (GEF), the first session focused on the findings of and lessons learned from place-based research on sustainable land management (SLM) conducted in 12 regional projects that are synthesized in the recently released publication, "Making Sense of Research for Sustainable Land Management." Three case studies were presented, highlighting technology solutions, stakeholders’ involvement, and model optimization approaches. Subsequent sessions discussed supporting policy coherence, the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, and research efforts to quantify the effects of agricultural intensification on land productivity and biodiversity.
Landscape Day concluded with a session celebrating World Soil Day 2016 and the launch of a new FAO flagship publication, “Soils and Pulses – Symbiosis for Life” aimed at promoting sustainable soil management towards achieving food security worldwide.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage, daily reports and a summary report from RCP at CBD COP 13. A summary of the Rio Conventions Pavilion events is available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
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Opening of the Rio Conventions Pavilion (RCP)
Opening speakers welcome delegates to the RCP
David Cooper, Deputy Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
Eva Ursula Müller, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
Ulrich Apel, Global Environment Facility (GEF)
Peter Moll, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
Stefan Hotes, Philipps University of Marburg, Germany
Arne Cierjacks, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Manuel Krauss, University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany
The publication “Making Sense of Research for Sustanable Land Management" was launched during the session
Session 1: Policy coherence across a landscape of diverse concepts and interests -
how international agendas are supporting new approaches
Gustavo Fonseca, GEF
Moderator Alexander Buck, International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO)
Blaise Bodin, Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative (FERI)
Session 2: Quantifying the effects of agricultural intensification on productivity and biodiversity
Elsa Nickel, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Germany
Ralf Seppelt, UFZ
Moderator Axel Paulsch, Institute for Biodiversity (IBN)
Participants ask questions throughout the sessions
Session 3: Celebration of World Soil Day
Irene Hoffmann, FAO
Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary, CBD
Hesiquio Benítez Díaz, Director-General, International Cooperation, Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), Mexico
Humberto Delgado-Rosa, European Commission
Chencho Norbu, Secretary, National Environment Commission, Bhutan
Catalina Santamaria, CBD Secretariat
Chikelu Mba, FAO
Participants watch a video titled "Soil & Pulses: symbiosis for life" produced by the FAO, in celebration of World Soil Day 2016
Around the Venue
Delegates gather for the arrival of the President of Mexico
